


Loud Minds And Broken Souls

by BazTheGhost



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Blood, Hearing Voices, Honestly this is gonna be a bummer, I promise this'll be cute too, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Parental Abuse, Schizophrenia, Some Fluff, happy ending i think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-03 15:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6616549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BazTheGhost/pseuds/BazTheGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank Iero hears voices. The don't react to medication and tell him things he shouldn't know. So, he gets put in a support group. Out of nowhere, Gerard Way falls into Franks broken life. As the voices get worse and tell him more things about what's going on around him, he has to get to the bottom of what's really going on in his head. All through this, he has to discover the secrets Gerard has kept locked up in his cracked soul and hope that the voices are telling him lies about the boy he's falling in love with. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I promise this'll be cute. Sad, but have some cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for picking up my little story!  
> I'm gonna add a disclaimer here that I do not have a mental illness where I hear voices but I'm often around people who do. I'm doing my best to research more but it won't be too big of a deal the farther into the story we get. Not going to give spoilers.   
> If you have any tips on how to write certain things in the story, please comment or email me at cutiesharky@gmail.com.

This story starts with a boy. His name is Frank Iero. Frank Iero thinks this is all bullshit. What is “this” you ask? Well, Frank is talking about the cards life has dealt him. He doesn’t have a shitty home life or lives in a bad neighbourhood. He has a few good friends and doesn’t need anymore. He has the money to put food on the table and enjoy the comforts of life. Frank has decided his life is bullshit because of the voices. 

Frank Iero has been hearing voices since he was young. He tried to ignore them, thinking they were just a normal thing, as he wasn’t old enough to know better. They were quiet at first, easy enough for a young boy to ignore. But as he got older, the voices got louder. By the time he was 12, they were unbearable. By the time he was 14, he had been through half the medications the doctors could give them. By the time he was 16, they couldn’t do much for him. 

These voices came and went. They weren’t constant and tended to slowly get louder when an “episode” was starting. By the time Frank was 17, he was sent to a counselor to help him manage them and shoved in a support group. He could manage them pretty well by this point, usually locking himself in his room or a bathroom when he was having a particularly bad episode. Music helped. Playing it or listening to it. The louder, the better. Hearing something loud and full of emotion tended to drown out the voices a little bit. Not much, but enough to make most of the episodes manageable. He often played his own music through his earbuds, using his own emotions to drown out the voices. It helped more than other people’s music, but he didn’t always have his music on him. So The Misfits and Iron Maiden were pretty good stand ins. 

The weirdest thing about the voices were the things they told him. They told him things about people. They told him things about what was going on around him. They led him places sometimes. Sometimes episodes were very minor and he heard whisperings about the people around them. They were worst in hospitals and older places. He would hear voices about the doctors. He would hear things about them cheating on their wives with nurses or drinking before surgeries. He thought it was all bullshit until he followed where the voices told him to go. He ended up walking in on his doctor having sex with a nurse in a supply closet when he was 13. He didn’t doubt the voices advice after this. He told one of his psychiatrists this once and he told Frank it was just the voices relaying things from his subconscious that he saw. ‘You probably saw the doctor around the nurse a lot and saw them head in that direction’ he told Frank. Frank nodded and agreed with him but knew he was wrong. He was in his room the entire time and had never even seen that nurse before. 

But, let’s get back to the present, shall we? Frank Iero is 18 years old and is heading to his group therapy. This group was full of teens and young adults with the same problems as Frank. Most came and went as their meds ended up kicking in, leaving Frank as the longest running member of the group. There wasn’t any getting out by finding the right meds or just growing out of it or changing his environment. They had tried it all already. He was pretty stuck. 

He sighed as he sat down in the cold metal chair, chills running up his spine as the cold metal touched his lower back. He grumbled and pulled his shirt down to cover his back but the damage was already done. Frank was going to be stupid fucking cold all meeting. He huffed and pulled his hoodie around him tighter, trying to will away the chill that had grabbed ahold of his body. 

“Okay guys!” The counselor said as he walked in,”We have a new member!”

Everyone in the group looked excited as the announcement was made, excited to have someone new. Frank just rolled his eyes at his counselor and looked at the ground, trying to guess who the new kid might be. Will it be a druggie? How about a kid from a damaged home? Maybe a kid who’s on the verge of meds and will be here for three weeks? 

“Okay everyone, let’s have a warm welcome for our new member, Gerard!”

Frank looked up to see the new member and lost his breath. Standing there was this awkward looking emo kid. His hair was raven black and he had a Misfits hoodie on. His red converse were almost as beat up as his dirty black jeans and his hair was messy and a bit greasy. The thing that most caught Frank’s eye was the kids eyes. They were a dark brown that looked like they had seen too many things. They were tired and bright at the same time, lighting up when they met Frank’s pair.

Frank stayed silent as the rest of the group all said “Hi Gerard” in unison like they do for every new person, his eyes locked with Gerard’s. He gulped hard as Gerard walked over to him, sitting in the chair right next to him. 

“I’m Gerard, as you just heard,” He said, a small smile tugging at his lips as he put out his hand,”And you are?”

Frank snapped out of his funk, shaking his head a little bit.

“Um, Frank. Hi. I’m Frank,” He said, taking the other boys hand. His hand was warm and his grip was firm, his eyes staying locked with Frank’s.

“Nice to meet you, Frank.”The rest of the meeting was everyone trying to get to know Gerard. Asking normal questions like “Are you from around here?” (The answer was that he moved here recently) and “How long have you had your diagnosis?” (The answer was since he was 13) and things like that. The questions were normal for new kids in the group. Not exactly normal for asking someone on the street.

Through all this, Frank barely took his eyes off of Gerard. He watched the way he laughed when he was caught of guard. He watched as he talked with his hands, talking about his home town. He watched his face light up when he talked about his little brother, cracking himself up while he talked about the funny stories he had. He watched when Gerard’s eyes met his and gave him a reassuring smile each time. The questioning went on most of the group, everyone figuring out that Gerard was a pretty interesting person. 

The counselor ended up cutting the questions off when there was 15 minutes left, asking them to give Gerard a break. They all reluctantly agreed but Gerard shot the counselor a look of thanks before he sat down next to Frank again. 

“So…. How long have you been here?” Gerard asked, gesturing at the group,”A few months?”

Frank snorted out a laugh, not because it was funny but just because it was ridiculous how off the guess was.

“Try more around a year and a half,” He said, letting out a dry chuckle,”I joined when I was 17 and I’m almost 19 now.”

“Wait… So how long have you been… Ya know.”

“Hearing weird shit? Since I can remember. I always thought it was normal as a kid. Ya know. Imaginary friends and shit. But then they got louder and I couldn’t make it stop and my parents realized something was wrong,” Frank sighed out, running a hand through his dark hair,”I deal with it pretty okay now though. Music drowns them out usually. Listening to them sometimes calms them down so they don’t sound so panicked.”

Gerard’s face was calm but his eyes held a curiosity, almost like he was studying Frank. Somehow, it didn’t really make Frank uncomfortable. When doctors give him that look, they look like they’re studying some new animal that is going to give them their big, scientific break. With Gerard, he just looked like he wanted to know. Like he would suck in any information Frank would give him about himself and what went on in his broken little head. 

“The weirdest thing… I don’t really tell anyone this but… They tell me things. Things I don’t know. Things I couldn’t know. They tell me things about the people around me, as if they’ve been watching them. I found my doctor fucking a nurse once. It a supply closet across the hospital. I had never been to that part of the hospital or had even seen that nurse once in my entire life. Following what they say sometimes quiets them down. It makes only one of them loud. And if you listen to it, it quiets down. So I followed it. And found my doctor. It was pretty fucked up.”

His gaze changed at this. It became less studying and more knowing. His eyes practically screamed that he understood. Not understood as in comprehension or even as in ‘I also hear voices and kind of understand’. This gaze screamed ‘I deal with this too’. It screamed ‘I go through this’. It screamed ‘This happens to me too’. 

Best of all, the gaze screamed what Frank had wanted to hear since this all began. “I understand you.” 

Suddenly, the counselor was in front of the group, telling everyone the meeting was over and the next group needed the space tonight so there wasn’t much time for the normal after group chit chat. Everyone quickly stood up, shuffling out. 

“Ah shit,” Frank muttered, standing up and pulling out his phone,”Here, uh, put your number in it and we can like text tonight or something. I mean- If you want. You don’t have to. I just figured you might want a friend or just someone from group to talk with or something.”

God. He was rambling. He was fucking rambling to the new hot kid who understood him better than any other goddamn person on this god forsaken earth. And he was rambling. Over getting his fucking phone number. 

Luckily, Gerards smile and light laughs reassured him that the cute boy didn’t think he was an absolute fucking idiot. God his smile was so cute. The way his entire face lit up and the corners of his fantastic brown eyes. Fuck. What was Gerard saying. He got distracted. Oh fuck. What did he say. 

Frank just thrusted out his phone, hoping that Gerard had said that he would put his phone in the phone. Frank’s luck didn’t seem to be running out since that was what Gerard had said. He quickly typed his number in before handing the phone back. His fingers brushing Franks and sending a jolt of electricity through his entire body. God he was in so fucking deep with this new kid. He had dug himself a fucking hole and was fucking stuck in it. A hole of bullshit crushing.   
“Text me when you get home, okay? We can pick up the conversation where we left off,” Gerard said, a small smile gracing his lips. His perfect lips. Attached to his perfect fucking face. This boy was fantastic. 

Frank nodded quickly, gripping his phone like it was the only goddamn thing that could save his stupid life. Gerard gave him a wave as he walked out, Frank still standing there like an idiot. After a few moments, a grin slipped onto his face. He got Gerard’s number. Fuck yes. The cutest kid in group put his number in Franks phone. Granted, it was a mental health support group for young adults, mostly filled with druggies, but that didn’t make Gerard any less   
cute.   
Frank eventually wandered out and over to his moms car, his smile staying on his lips the entire drive home while he stared at his phone. His mom noticed his smile, giving herself a small smile. It wasn't common to see Frank smiling after his meetings, or really at all, so she didn't ask about it, letting him enjoy whatever was making him so happy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank helps Gerard out of a sticky situation and some feels take place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys I'm shit at chapter summaries but whatever

Frank ran up to his room pretty quick after getting home, flopping down on his bed and pulling out his phone. He pulled up Gerard’s contact, biting his lip softly. He actually got his number. Damn. What a fucking success. Even if Gerard wasn’t into Frank, god it was nice to have someone to talk to about shit. This was another teenagers who went through the same shit as Frank and wasn’t fucking weird. Well, he was a little. But in a good way.

Frank quickly started typing up a message, saying hey and that it was Frank and not some random weirdo that got Gerards’ number. I mean, he was but it was Gerard who gave the weirdo his number. 

His grinned a little to himself as he sent the message, rolling onto his back and staring at the screen. He was ridiculously happy that Gerard was so cool. But like all good things, this was shot down prematurely. 

“He’s broken,” a voice said, coming from inside Franks head. No. Nonono. Not now. This was not the fucking time for this. Frank was not fucking putting up with this shit right now. He was happy. He didn’t need this fucker speaking lies in his head. This was fucking bullshit. It wasn’t fucking time for this. 

Frank quickly pulled out his earbuds, putting them in his ears and starting his music playing. This, sadly, barely made the voices any quieter. He could still hear the chorus of “He’s broken”s and “He’s hiding things” and “He doesn’t care” coming from inside his head. He could mostly ignore them, thinking of anything but the voices. But one thing caught his attention. One thing he couldn’t ignore.

The voice was an older womans, her voice raspy in Franks head as she spoke. 

“Gerard needs you.”

The other voices immediately shut up after that, leaving Frank in silence. He checked his phone, seeing no message from Gerard. “He needs you.” That message rolled around his head for a few moments. What was wrong? Was he okay? Was he safe? The voices usually spoke bullshit but this one was different. This wasn’t a voice he heard often. And the message was so direct. 

Frank bit his lip and debated his options before pulling up Gerard’s contact again, pressing the call button this time. 

The phone rung for a few moments before it was picked up, a shaky “Hello?” coming from the other end.

“Gerard? Hey are you okay?” Frank asked, able to hear how tired and unsure the voice on the other end was.

“Um… Y-Yeah I’m fine. I’m just… Ah fuck. Frank I’m really not. I’m sorry. My dad just fucking threw me out for the night again. I… I had an episode and he didn’t want to deal with it and… Fuck. I’m just fucking wandering around this fucking city and I have no idea where I am. God this is fucked. I’m fucking sorry.”

Frank’s heart stopped beating in his chest when he heard what was going on, immediately sitting up and grabbing his jacket. 

“I’m coming to pick you up. Get to a street corner and tell me which two streets you’re at. I’ll be there soon.”  
“Frank. Christ Frank you don’t have to. I can find a park or something like that. You don’t need to drive all the way out here. Fuck… Frank you barely fucking know me. How the hell do you know I’m not just making this up or something like that?” Gerard said, his voice sounding desperate and, almost, scared. 

“You’re not that type of person. I can just tell.”

“I-” Gerard started before letting out a sigh, breathing a little heavy into the phone, as if he was crying.

“I’m by the animal hospital. I… Thank you,” His voice was shaky, cracking a couple times. Yeah. He was crying. God he was fucking crying just because Frank said he would pick him up. What the hell was this poor kid used to?

“I’ll see you soon okay? I’m gonna head out right now.”

“Okay. Thank you so much Frank.”

“Of course. What kind of person would I be if I just left you?”

Frank could hear Gerard swallow hard on the other end of the phone, obviously not able to say anything.

“I’ll be there soon. Just stay where you are.”

And with that, Frank hung up the phone and bolted out of his room. 

  
  


Linda Iero got into the car even quicker than Frank did when she heard what was going on. She had it started before Frank even got in and was driving before he could even do his seat belt. 

“So his dad kicked him out and was was just going to wander all night? Jesus Christ…” She said softly, shaking her head as they drove.

Frank stayed silent, his eyes glued to his phone in case Gerard called and thinking about the voices. “He’s broken”. Frank kinda got where that came from now. Had he really thought Frank wouldn’t come get him? He was 17 and wandering the streets of a new town. Whatever made him think that Frank wouldn’t care must have really fucked him up. 

Mostly, Frank wanted to make sense of the voices in his head and what they said. Gerard being broken wasn’t too far a stretch for his mind, as most of the people who came into the group were in some way. Him not caring is just a normal fear that floats around Franks head about anyone new he cared about. The weird one was the old woman saying that Gerard wasn’t okay. He couldn’t figure out how he knew. Gerard hadn’t texted back but Frank wasn’t even thinking about that when the voices showed up. He could have been showering or peeing or his phone could have been dead. Nothing that happened could have led to Franks subconscious saying that Gerard needed him. It was completely out of the fucking blue. His mind kept going back to his doctor fucking the nurse. 

Frank was jolted out of thought when the car stopped. He quickly grabbed the blanket from the back seat and jumped out of the car, looking around for Gerard. He walked around the other side of the closed pet hospital, seeing a figure sitting against the wall. He quickly jogged over, kneeling next to him.

Frank’s heart stopped when he saw Gerard. His lip was split open and he had a large bruise on his cheek that was turning a very painful purple. His sweatshirt sleeves were pushed up, a fist full of finger shaped bruises on his arms, many of them older than the others. 

His face lit up when he saw Frank, despite the marks all over him. His sat up, wincing a bit when he pushed against the wall. Frank snapped out of his concerned stare, quickly wrapping the blanket around Gerard and helping him up. They climbed in Lindas beat up mini van, both of them sitting in the back.

She didn’t ask any questions, just telling Gerard he could stay as long as he needed and not to be afraid to ask if he needs anything. She was obviously concerned and a hell of a lot angry but held her tongue, not wanting to make Gerard uncomfortable. Her eyes lingered a little on the bruises on his arms, very obviously made by someone grabbing him too hard, but started driving, not saying a word through the drive home. 

Frank held Gerards hand the entire ride, trying to stay calm. Seeing Gerard like this reminded him of his own father before his mom kicked him out and got them a restraining order. The fact that he did this to Gerard because he was having a bad episode practically forced flashbacks to play before Franks eyes. 

Franks mind focussed back on reality when the car came to a halt in the driveway, Linda turning to both of them. 

“The pizza place is open until 2 am. Do you guys want me to pick some up for you?” She asked, giving Gerard a gentle smile. He perked up when Linda started talking, nodding his head very enthusiastically.

“A cheese pizza or two?,” He asked, glancing at Gerard and getting a thumbs up from the boy. God he was cute. He was all fucked up and had bruises all over him but the idea of pizza was enough to make him grin like a fucking idiot. A cute fucking idiot. 

“You boys can head in then and I’ll go get it. It’ll only take about 15 minutes for them to make it and it’s ten minutes away anyway so I might as well just call on the way,”She said with a smile before turning to Frank,”Make Gerard a place on the couch. Don’t worry about school tomorrow, I’ll call you in sick. Make sure you get some ice on that bruise on your cheek Gerard.”

Both of the boys nodded and opened the car doors, Frank giving his mom a quick kiss of the cheek and telling her to drive safe before closing his door and heading inside. He pulled out the first aid kit when they got inside, putting a bandaid on a cut on Gerards arm, giving him a good look of the bruises. Many of them were turning yellow but more of them were purple. They were all roughly the size of a grown man’s fingers and about the right length apart. 

Frank tired not to linger on them too long, quickly getting up and grabbing an ice pack for Gerard’s cheek. He wrapped in a paper towel and gently pressed it to Gerard’s cheek, biting his lip when the other boy winced. 

“So… He just kicked you out when it got bad for you?” Frank asked softly, almost regretting it after the words came out of his mouth,”You don’t need to talk about it. I just… Understand I guess.”

“It was after it was done. I think I freaked him out really bad since it happened in the living room. I used to have pills that helped but they just numbed my brain out and ended up not helping a ton. Since then he’s been pretty pissed off when it happens in front of him. He used to just be able to pop a pill in my mouth and shut me up but now he has to wait until I can deal with it myself. 

This was a particularly bad one this time so he just told me to leave. I didn’t have my iPod on me to drown them out so I couldn’t get myself under control as quickly as I usually can so this one lasted a while longer. He usually gets pissed of when I can’t keep it under around 10 minutes, sometimes less if work pissed him off. 

He pretty much slapped me and dragged me out of the house and told me not to come back ‘til tomorrow,” Gerard said, running a hand through his dark hair,”Pretty fucked isn’t it? Being kicked out for something like that, something I can’t even fucking stop when I want to. It’s bullshit. He’s bullshit.” 

Frank bit his lip through Gerard’s retelling of the night, digging his nails into his jeans to keep from letting off how pissed he was. What the fuck. How fucking dare anyone fucking do that to Gerard, least of all his fucking dad who should be helping him. 

“What… What about your mom? Was she around?”

Gerard let out a harsh laugh, a bitter look coming on his face. 

“She just fucking walks away and lets him. She used to care but now it’s too much of a fucking bother. I’m too much of a fucking bother for her to help. I-” Gerard’s voice cracked, making Frank take in a sharp breath,”I’m too much for either of them to fucking deal with anymore. And I can’t move out and leave my brother with them. They’ll just take it more out on him. At least they have an excuse to treat me like shit.”

“I’m… Fuck. I’m so sorry Gerard. They’re pieces of shit. They shouldn’t fucking do that too you. It’s fucking unacceptable. No one should treat their kids like that,”Frank said, his anger slipping out into his voice before it got gentle,”You… You can always have a place here. My mom understands these things and she’s really good at helping. You can always stay on our couch if you need anywhere that isn’t home.”

Gerard bit his lip before giving Frank a soft smile, looking away before Frank could notice his eyes getting wet. 

“I… I’d really like that. Thank you,” He said softly, letting out a soft chuckle. 

Frank reached over and put a hand on Gerards shoulder, pausing when he noticed he was shaking. He suddenly pulled Gerard close to him, wrapping his arms around the taller boy and feeling him do the same. 

“Don’t worry about it Gerard. Just stay here for the night and forget about it all. Just think about here and now. It’s all okay,” He said softly, his skin prickling when he felt Gerard’s hot breath on his neck.

They stood like that for a few minutes, maybe more than a few, before they heard the front door open, both of them quickly pulling away as Gerard wiped his wet eyes. Linda gave them both a slightly weird look before just shrugging it off and setting the pizzas down. 

“I’m gonna go to bed, Frankie. I don’t wanna be fucked for work tomorrow,” She said, giving him a small smile,”Show Gerard some good movies or something tonight. Come get me if you need anything, if either of you need anything, okay?”

Frank gave her a smile and a thumbs up before kissing her on the cheek, getting a forehead kiss in return before she went upstairs to her room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! Please send all the kudos and leave a comment! They really keep me motivated to keep going! Reminds me someone cares to read the stories in my head :P
> 
> I'm also looking for a beta reader (aka someone to read the little bit I write a day and remind me to keep fucking going on it) so please email me at cutiesharky@gmail.com if you're interested! 
> 
> I hope all of you have a fantastic day! I love you all! Stay fantastic Killjoys!

**Author's Note:**

> Woo! First chapter down!  
> I'm going to try and write at least one chapter ahead so that if I get a writing block I can still add something for you guys to read until I figure my shit out.   
> Please comment and give kudos! It really keeps me motivated and reassures me that you guys are enjoying it! I can't really get any feedback unless you guys comment!
> 
> Keep it ugly, Killjoys! I love you all!


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